Should it be "house" or "houses"? /:,,

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
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I often go to fellow believers’ house/houses to worship together.

  1. Which is the correct noun?
  2. Is the word “fellow” necessary?

Thanks.

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  • I go to fellow believers’ houses. (plural + s + apstrophe)
    or

  • I go to a fellow believer’s house. (singular + apostrophe -s)

  • “Fellow” is necessary, since you go and see a person/people who have the same belief as you.

  • You should not use it, however, for instance, when you talk about your colleagues at work.

Hope this helps.

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Potentially you could have multiple believers living in one house. In which case believers’ is plural, and house is singular.

However, I assume they live in multiple houses, in which case both are plural.

If fellow is omitted, the reader would assume the speaker is also a believer. So it’s not strictly needed. But I think it does help make it clear, so I would leave it in.

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Hi, NN, that’s exactly what I thought.

After thinking about this for a few hours, I hope you won’t mind my adding something to this:

  • You can say, ‘She goes to church every Sunday’ and ‘She was praying in the church.’ I think, regardless of whether you see ‘church’ as the institution or the building. The first one implies that she is going there and will eventually pray, the other says she’s already doing that. However, both will be understood as ‘She’s a Christian and she prays’. Perhaps, ‘church’ and ‘the church’ can be used interchangeably, but I do believe that the indefinite article should be used when you speak about ‘a believers’ house’. If you don’t, it would sound unnatural to me. I hope you’ll understand my reasoning.
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In usage, going to “church” without an article, normally means church service.
It’s similar to going to mass vs going to the church building itself.

She went to church today.
This is a specific instance.
or
She goes to church.
This usually means she is a regular church goer.

She went to the church.
This usually mean she went for some other reason going to a service. It refers to the building, not the service.

“The church” can also mean the institution rather than a specific building. Context should make it clear which it refers to.

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Thank you for shedding some light onto this, Dan.

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